First Michigan State University medical students in Grand Rapids don their white coats today

Darren Breen | The Grand Rapids PressCarolina Martinez, of Grand Rapids, is beginning her first year of medical school at the Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine Secchia Center in downtown Grand Rapids.

GRAND RAPIDS — For first-year Michigan State University medical student Carolina Martinez, the opportunity to be ceremonially cloaked today in the white coat traditionally worn by physicians is an honor she does not take lightly.

“It solidifies everything I’ve been working toward,” Martinez said. “When you wear that white coat, it comes with a lot of responsibilities.”

The 23-year-old Grand Rapids native is just one of the inaugural class of first-year medical students who will take part in the “White Coat Ceremony,” held for the first time at DeVos Performance Hall before faculty, staff, family and friends.

This is the first year incoming students will attend classes at the $90 million College of Human Medicine Secchia Center in downtown Grand Rapids, which officially opens in September.

“It’s a really important ritual for students entering the profession,” said Dr. Marsha Rappley, dean of the MSU college.

FACT SHEET

Opening ceremony

The event: Today, the inaugural class of first-year medical students who will attend classes at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine building in Grand Rapids will take part in the traditional “White Coat Ceremony.”

What is it? An annual event in which incoming students are formally cloaked in the traditional physicians jacket in front of an audience of faculty, staff, family and friends. Today’s ceremony is at DeVos Performance Hall.

Where will they study? The class of 200 students has been divided, with 100 each taking courses in Grand Rapids and East Lansing. The Grand Rapids group will study in the new $90 million Secchia Center on Michigan Street NE.

Upcoming Secchia Center events: VIP ribbon cutting Sept. 10, public open house 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 11, with a special appearance by Sparty, MSU’s mascot. Fundraising gala set for Sept. 14.

All 200 first-year students are expected to be on hand for today’s event, even though half will attend classes in East Lansing.

Martinez, a graduate of The Potter’s House school and Calvin College, is one of 100 students who will take courses in the 180,000-square-foot Secchia Center.

The new facility features an open floor plan with glass and metal walkways, a rooftop garden, floor-to-ceiling windows and gathering spots.

It also has state-of-the art classrooms with features such as electronic desktops for students to view hundreds of stored microscopic images and other materials.

“We used to have a set of slides, and we would put them under a microscope — that’s how I learned,” Rappley said. “We were limited by what slides we had, and the other things we just had to either read about or maybe see a picture in a book.”

Martinez said she has been equally impressed by the building’s technological capabilities and eye-catching design features.

“It’s not very often you get to try out a new building,” she said.

For now, Martinez said she will focus on primary care and is excited to tackle a 19-course load, which includes a six-credit anatomy class with a course packet “about a million pages long.”

“I always knew I wanted to do this,” she said. “I was one of those 8-year-olds who said, ‘I want to be a doctor.’”

Martinez said she has found additional inspiration in the death of her brother, Andres Juan Martinez, who died at age 25 after a February car accident.

“My brother always believed in me,” she said. “If anything, his passing has served to establish my decision to study medicine.”

In meeting her classmates during orientation last week, Martinez said she found that each has a story to tell and a reason for striving to become a physician.

“We come from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences,” she said. “We have all had our joys and sorrows and, yet, here we stand: ready to work as a team and take on the responsibilities of becoming physicians.”

The building’s namesake — Grand Rapids businessman Peter Secchia — said he sees another kind of inspiration in the incoming class and the opening of the facility.

As with all the development on and near the Michigan Street hill, Secchia believes it symbolizes West Michigan’s resilience.

“Whether it’s the Meijer Heart Center or the Secchia Center, they’re all elevating the culture level and academic intensity of our community,” Secchia said. “We’re getting this done in spite of the economy. We’re announcing new buildings where, at the same time, other people are turning the lights off.”